Automatic catch.



P. WILLIMAK.

AUTOMATIC CATCH. A APPLIOATION FILED Hm. ze, i908.

905,262. Y v Patented Dec. 1,1908.

p. FRANK WILLIMAK, or' sNorioMisH, wsn'n'veroiv.`

f AUTOMATIC CATCH.

' `Specification of Letters Patent. l

Patented Dec. 1, 1908.

Application lled February 29, 1908.. SerialNo. 418,557. i

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK WILLIMAK, a citizen of the United States,residing at Snohomish, in the county of Snohomish and Statey ofWashington, have invented a new and useful Automatic Catch, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to catches, and more especially to that kind thatare automatically set and released.

The object of the inventionis to provide an improved form of catchadapted for general use whenever it is desired to automatically lock anobject from movement and release the same. 1

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction andarrangement of parts, hereinafter fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, and specifically claimed.l Y

' In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectionthrough the invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same on theline .zc-m of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows one application of the device, inthis instance to a pool ball triangle.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate correspondingparts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

The invention consists of a casing 10 having guides 11 formed thereon,and in the instance here shown, these guides are in the -form of a flatplate flanged outwardly from the casing. A slide 12 is mounted on thiscasing, and is provided with lugs 13 which embrace the guides 11. Forthe purpose of the invention this is a convenient manner to mount theslide, but it is obvious that any other guide and means of holding-theslide therein is equally well adapted for this purpose.

Mounted within the casing 10 is a latch 14. This latch is mounted on apin 15, a slot 16 being provided in the latch for the reception of thepivot pin, and an inclined slot 17 being provided in the casing lfor thesame pur- It will thus be seen that the latch is.V loosely mounted onthe pin, and the purpose pose.

of this will be hereinafter apparent. The latch is provided with an arm18 extending therefrom and a holding shoulder 18', and it will be notedthat at all times the greater part of the weight of the catch lies onthe pin 15 in such manner that the tendency is to assume the positionshown in full lines in Fig. 1, or in other words, with the verticalplane of the center of gravity of the latch at a point between the pinand the side of the casing on which the block is mounted. This pin isheld to move in the slots 17 and 16 by any suitable arrangement, as thewashers V shownl in Fig. 2, these serving to keep the pin in parallelposition to prevent jamming.

At 19 it will be seen that the casing eX- tends behind the lever 18 whenthe latch is in the operative position, as indicated by the 'dottedlines in Fig. 1.

i. The operation of the device will probably be best understood byreferring to a special case, as, for instance, as illustrated in Fig.

3.` In this case there is shown in full lines out of the way of theplayers. When it is desired, however, to spot the balls or replace themon the table at the beginning of the game, the triangle 2O is pulleddown and placed on the table a little in advance of the position shownat 21. This causes the block 12 to travel up the guide 11 until itreaches a position a little higher than that indicated by the dottedlines in Fig. 1. Referring now to this figure, as the block 12 strikesthe lever 18 shown in the full line in Fig. 1, the latch is rotated tothe position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and projects upward at aright angle, it being prevented from straightening entirely up by thepoint of the latch striking the lower side of the block. Were the latchmounted on a fixed pivot it would thus be impossible to move the blockany further up,

but on account of the slot and pivot mounting, the entire latch andlever bodily slide backward in the casing, thus permitting the block topass to a position a little higher than that indicated in the dottedline. The triangle is then drawn backward to a position such as at 21,which slackens the cord 23 by v means of which it is attached to theblock 12,

thus permitting the block 12 to fall back and rest on the holdin-gshoulder 18 of the latch, as shown in the dotted line in Fig. 1. Theballs having been placed in this triangle, they are pushed forward, asshown at 22.

This pulls the block further up on the guide to a position entirelybeyond the end of the lever 18, thus freeing the same and permitting itto assume the position shown 'in full lines. It will now be obvious thatthe triangle may be removed from t-lie balls and the block 12 acting asa counter-weight will pull it back to the position Q0, inasmuch as theblock is free to pass over the end of the lever 18 merely shoving itinside ofthe casing.

It will be noted that if'the block be drawn up very quickly, thetendency is for the arm 18 to be thrown entirely around and thereforethe part 19 of the casing is closed in, as shown, to act as a stop tolimit the motion of the arm 18, thus preventing its being thrown too farback.

While the device is here shown in connection with a pool ball triangle,it is obvious that it may be used in very many other connections, as,for instance, it may be used to hold a window open. It, also, may beused to support a bunch of bananas, and in many other ways. It is not,therefore, desired to limit the use of the invention to the specialarrangement with a pool ball triangle as herein shown, but it is desiredto claim broadly the latch itself.

That is claimed is 1. In a device of the kind described, a easing, aguide, a block slidable on said guide, a shouldered latch pivotallymounted on the said casing provided with a weighted arm arranged toproject downward in the path of said block when said latch is ininoperative position, and adapted to rotate said latch into operativeposition as the block is drawn up above the pivot point.

2. In a device of the kind described, a

casing, a guide, a block slidable on said guide, a shouldered latchpivotally mounted on said casing provided with a weighted arm arrangedto proJect downward into the path of said block when said latch is ininoperative position, and adapted to rotate said latch into ope ativeposition as the block is drawn up above the pivot point. and releasesaid latch when the block is drawn up from the position opposite thepivotal point to a position above the end of said arm.

3. In a device ot' the kind desciibed, a casing having oppositelydisposed slots therein, a guide, a block slidable on said guide, alshouldered latch provided with a slot held in said casing, a pivotpassing through the slots in said catch and casing, a weighted armformed on said latch arranged to project downward in the path oi .saidblock when said latch is in inoperative position and adapted to rotatesaid latch into operativeposition when the block is drawn up past thepivot point.

4. In a device of the kind described, a casing having oppositelydisposed slotsl therein, a guide, a block slidable in said guide, ashouldered latch provided with a slot held in said easing, a pivotpassing through the slots in said catch, and casing, a weighted armformed on said latch arranged to project downward in the path ot saidblock when said latch is in inoperative position and adapted to rotatesaid latch into operative position when the block is drawn up past thepivot point, and release ysaid latch when the block is drawn up trom theposition opposite the pivotal point to a position above the end of saidarm.

In testimony that l claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aiixedmy signature in the presence ot two witnesses.

FRA NK lVlliLly h lA l.

litnessesz F. V. URBAN, LnNnis F. Dain..

